Review of the Merit Financial Advertisement

TV Commercial:

Merit Financial “Government Debt” – Gold & Silver

Description:

Merit Financial offers low-priced silver and gold, shipped via mail.

Partial transcript:

As government debt has spiraled out of control owning physical gold and silver has become part of a balanced, conservative financial plan. At Merit Gold and Silver we’ve helped tens of thousands of Americans take delivery of gold and silver since 1986. As demand for precious metals continues to soar we’re offering even more of our most popular bullion products at one percent over dealer cost. Are you looking for gold eagles, buffalos or british sovereigns? How about silver eagles, bars or rounds? At Merit there are no hidden fees or surcharges. Just one percent over our cost for all your gold and silver bullion. We’ll even pay to have your products discreetly delivered to your door, fully insured. It’s easy to order.

Several words and phrases in the Merit commercial and what they really mean:

What the commercial said:owning physical gold and silver has become part of a balanced, conservative financial plan

What some people might think that means: I need to own gold and silver as part of my investments

What it really means: Many financial planners and experts agree that owning physical silver, gold, or other precious metals can be part of a good financial plan

What the TV commercial says:we’re offering even more of our most popular bullion products at one percent over dealer cost

What some people might think that means: I can always get gold and silver coins or bullion from Merit and it will only cost 1% over the dealer or spot price

What it really means: In very fine print, the following disclaimer is shown on the TV screen: 1% over dealer cost is an approximation based on expected spot price relative cost of coins. It is not a guarantee on any specific product at any specific time and only applies to bullion prices. This near-hidden disclaimer states that you will not always get bullion at 1% over dealer cost, and that it specifically does not apply to gold or silver coins. Many people would consider this to be very deceptive.

What the TV advertisement said:At Merit there are no hidden fees or surcharges

What some people might think that means: I can buy gold or silver from Merit without any fees or surcharges

What it really means: On the screen, in large easy to read print, the words “Minimum Order $1500” is shown, meaning that for orders less than $1500, there may be hidden fees or surcharges. Even though there is no attempt to hide the minimum order statement, many people would consider the verbal statement to be deceptive or untrue.

What the ad said:We’ll even pay to have your products discreetly delivered to your door, fully insured

What some people might think that means: I can order gold or silver from Merit and have it shipped, with insurance

What it really means: On the screen, in extremely fine print the words “free insured delivery is a limited time offer and some restrictions apply“. Depending on the restrictions on the insured delivery, this may be considered deceptive, but the Merit commercial does not give us any other information about what those restrictions are.

Summary:

The Merit Gold & Silver commercial makes several statements that some people would consider to be untrue or deceptive and makes liberal use of “fine print” so small that it is nearly impossible to read.

Were you tricked by the wording and fine print on the Merit Gold commercial?